Tony Allen: Clippers ‘Played Harder’ Than Memphis Grizzlies

The Los Angeles Clippers shocked the world by sending the Memphis Grizzlies home for the summer following a tough, Game 7 win on the road. According to Tony Allen, the Clips simply wanted it more. From the Commercial Appeal: “The Griz were officially in offseason mode after losing their Western Conference first-round playoff series despite having home-court advantage. What Griz coach Lionel Hollins called ‘a very satisfying season with a bitter end’ arguably came down to their taking a vacation from their style. The Grizzlies talked about grit and grind. The Clippers brought it in Game 7. The Griz talked about exploiting their size advantage. The ground-and-pound action with Gasol and Zach Randolph that helped win games 5 and 6 wasn’t emphasized much in Game 7. ‘They were overloading the post,’ Marc Gasol said. ‘They know what we want to do and they know what our strengths are and they were taking it away. We were trying to find something.’ With the season on the line during an ugly game in which neither team could establish a flow, the Clippers pulled off what they did to win Games 1, 3 and 4. The Clippers got offensive rebounds, dived for loose balls and got a big spark from their bench. The Clippers made sure the plays that could have gone either way ended in their favor most of the time. ‘They just played harder than us,’ Tony Allen said. ‘And obviously, in a 48-minute game, they wanted it more than we did because they obviously beat us in the rebounding area. They just outworked us. I think that was pretty much the game.'”